I've been sick for two weeks! My computer got sick and it's at the computer doctor! I discovered my author site went down because of changes that were made at my registrar's website! I had to relearn how to point my name in the right direction!

I admit that it's been a relief to not get on my computer. Heavens to Betsy! It's nice not to be on my computer?! I have been taking care of email and such on my Kindle Fire, and I happen to be on my husband's computer since he isn't home. But, yes, not having my computer available means I take care of things in the simplest way possible. Instead of fancy handouts for classes I teach, handouts become rather simple or non-existent. I use paper and pencils--or gel pens!--for making plans, writing notes, and putting new story ideas down.

Until today, my energy level has been too low to actually do anything or think much at all. I still feel a little weak and I know I have to take it easy but I'm so excited for tomorrow. I'm supposed to get my computer back soon and I want to write and edit! I also need to get back to my other jobs. Mostly, my two weeks at home have been to lay on the couch and watch Monk and movies. And READ! I've been through several books already. Just in case you find yourself in the mood for reading something you may not have tried already:The Ginger Gold mystery series, by Lee Strauss. I just finished book 5, Murder at the Mortuary. I just eat up these books set in the 20's whose main character is Ginger Gold, a fashionista who just recently returned to her native England from Boston. She likes to drive fast and she carries a gun. Her exact duties during the war are still a bit of a mystery too. The Lying Planet; and Bottled are by Carol Riggs. I just finished both of these stories. Bottled is about a girl who was imprisoned in a bottle as a genie and seeks to get out! The Lying Planet is an intense sci-fi about a group of teens who discover a dark truth their parents are hiding.I'm in the middle of The Executioner's Daughter, by Jane Hardstaff, about a girl named Moss who holds the basket into which her father throws the severed heads of those just executed. She feels as much as a prisoner of the Tower of London as those condemned to die. I'm also in the middle of Ghost Hand, by Ripley Patton. I love it that the ghost hand is a medical condition called PSS - Psyche Sans Soma

Well, I think I just used up most of my energy for today. Back to reading.

After casting a play, I start my first rehearsal with a "pep" talk. It goes something like this: "Before you auditioned, it was a democracy. Now that you're cast, it's more like a tyranny. My job as the director is to make you look great on stage. In a few weeks of rehearsals, you're going to be SICK of me and rehearsals. You won't want to do what I say. At that point, you will look at me and say, 'Yes, Madame Director' and you'll do exactly what I say anyway. Got it?" They chuckle in a frightened way and say "Got it." Then we begin the rehearsal.

There's a group of homeschooled teens that I've directed in Shakespeare plays, starting in 2012. In 2013, that first group along with some of their siblings were part of the play. In 2014, the olders helped backstage and the youngers were now moving on up into the major roles. This year, I'm directing A Midsummer Night's Dream and there are some of the youngers who are the olders, and newbies who are olders, too. I almost didn't have to go through my spiel; the oldies taught the newbies what to call me. The parents working with me call me Madame Director, too. Annnndddd, there are the little guys--young siblings of the actors--who come on as fairies towards the end of the play. They are so excited to have sparkly costumes and wings. My heart MELTED when one tiny voice called out, "Madame Director..." FYI, I'm very nice to the little guys.

Do you ever leap from one creative idea and project to the next? I do. Perhaps everybody does. I suppose you can say I'm just leaping from project to project but really I feel like I have multiple creative personalities. For instance, some days I want to spend hours cooking and somedays I don't want to go near the kitchen. Here are a few of my creative personalities and what they're working on:

Author: finishing a novel; writing picture books

Playwright: (writing a play is just not the same as authoring a book so this is a separate creative personality) three plays for children to perform in editing stage; five plays for speech therapists in the works; one musical circling my brain; one monologue written today.

Director: (of plays) I'll be directing a Shakespeare play starting in March; directing a couple of children's shows in the summer.

Mime: coming up with fun skits, teaching, directing

Songwriter: (again, this is different than the other kinds of writing) I have three songs per script in the above mentioned three plays for children that need to be notated; a spiritual song written on various pieces of paper.

Cake Decorator: I loved my cake classes and I love coming up with decorations on cakes. (I just have to pick cake decorating days)

Chef: This is for everything else besides cakes. I follow recipes. I invent recipes. Healthy foods. Desserts. It just makes the house smell good. And I have fun doing it.

Seamstress: I have a dress I'm building by using a store-bought dress as the pattern.

Quilting: currently, I'm buiilding the blocks. Yes, it's sewing but different in my mind than just sewing clothes.

Cross stitch: I have a lovely scene I'm working on. I'll start a fantasy scene after that.

I'm teaching a group of young script writers and the first thing I had them do was make a poster of where ideas come from. I stopped myself from getting on the floor and adding my thoughts to their poster. But, first, getting on the ground and then getting back up again is growing more difficult and secondly I wanted them to come up with the ideas. It didn't take them long. For me, I'm relegated to my blog to talk about where my ideas come from. So here's a list!

I wrote at least one of my children's plays just because I wanted a Texas accent. Shore 'nough, I did. The play is called Ruby Lou and the White Gold Saloon. (White Gold is milk)

I do a lot of adapting. I rather like fairy tales, tall tales, folk tales, myths (mainly Greek myths), legends. I also love adapting Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.

And since I read a lot of fantasy, I wanted to write a play with a dragon in it. Everybody Knows That is one of my plays, and White Fire is a fantasy novel I wrote. They both have dragons in them. The Case of the Missing Pet, a play, has a gecko and a parrot as the main characters. At the Zoo's main character is Pesky Penguin (Penguins are so cute)

There are nights that I have rather memorable dreams. I have a pad of paper and a pen in my night stand...which I hardly use because I don't like to wake up to write things down. Anyway, I had a song come to me in a dream. I have ideas for books I've written down. The biggest problem is the DREAMS DON'T FINISH THE STORY so I have to make up most of it. The song didn't get finished in the dream but I managed to complete the song.

I have a musical I want to write for a long poem, and 3 children's plays from nursery rhymes.

There are other ways I get ideas. Such as settings (Done in Down Under). Seeing something or someone. There's the question method: "I wonder what would happen if...", "Why would someone want to...", "Where would a large group of people hang out?" Sometimes ideas just come because I sat down and told my brain that I couldn't get out of the chair until I had at least a paragraph, and if I went all the way to a page, I'd let myself have a big bowl of ice cream. It's funny how I can bribe myself to come up with an idea!

Most recently I wanted to write a short children's musical. Here's how the brain went--High School Musical is set at a school but I want this to be about kids in elementary...High School Musical had a spoof, High School Non-Musical...Elementary School Musical? No, I don't want it to be about kids auditioning for a musical, nor a spoof of HS Musical...It's Elementary...that sounds good...it sounds like Sherlock Holmes...like a mystery...what could be a mystery at an elementary? I don't want just a theft of a pencil or the like...a petnapping!...the classroom pet is missing...and I want four songs...something about having an alibi, something about being a detective...a chase scene, it has to have a Chase song...the finale should be the title It's Elementary. Then I had to write the whole thing. But I love the play and I love how it's coming...oh, I happen to be in the midst of directing it too. If you happen to be reading this before July 19 and 20, 2016, you're welcome to come see it! It's part of the Midsummer Shows at Children's Educational Theatre.

There are days that I can't think what to add to a conversation or a blog, for that matter. Perhaps those are the days to be silent and just listen. And yet I haven't posted a blog entry in months. So, I ask myself, "Do you have absolutely nothing to say? What have you been thinking about?" I think about conversations I've recently had, such as yesterday when I had a three hour conversation with an old friend of mine. (Not that she's old). I had a conversation with a grown son. We didn't run out of opinions and thoughts the whole time he was on the phone. In spite of a sore throat, I talk and talk and talk with my husband when we're together. That could be one of the reasons I can't get rid of my laryngitis. If it's the right conversation, ideas will spark, thoughts will fly and conversations will flow. Same goes for writing. Sometimes I have to just get started and ideas will spark, thoughts will fly, and the typing gets going. Sometimes it's not waiting to be inspired and then going to the computer to type. Sometimes it's going to the computer first and just starting. The same thing happens when I'm trying to make up a mime skit. I have to be moving before the routine will actually show itself completely. ​Sometimes I just have to start.

Today I passed a quote in a middle school hallway: "You can do it!" it encouraged. I've seen many a quote, meme, poster and inspirational people on YouTube whose basic message is "You can do it!" I've seen the message geared for elementary students on up to centenarians.

When I ask "must I be reminded?" I don't mean, "Puh-lease, I never want to see that saying again!" I mean, "I wonder how many times I have to see it before I believe it. And when will I be able to believe it without seeing it?"

WHO KEEPS TAKING THE ADVENTUROUS "LET ME TRY THAT" SPIRIT OUT OF PEOPLE? Well, I suppose there will always be detractors. I could listen to them if I wanted. Sometimes my own worst critique is me. I suppose there are times I shouldn't listen to me either.

But if there are detractors then there must also be CHEER TEAMS who encourage us forward, even when we're stumbling. There might be times when I'm my only cheer squad. I don't want to cheer myself into doing something stupid, such as going 95 mph on a slick road, but I SHOULD listen to the encouraging cheers (from self and others) who get me going in the right direction.

I CAN DO THIS!When I do, no matter how long it takes, I will celebrate.

Just in case you need a reminder to move in a positive direction: You can do this. You got it. GO YOU!

A couple of years ago, I thought we were going to shut down our theater business, or at least let it ease out of existence, like the air in an air mattress when two not-thin people lie on it all night. (heehee). Well, dang it. The theater business has not disappeared. I've got after-school classes I'm teaching; classes for a home school group; a production I'll be directing; scripts I'm writing; and performances. Well then OKAY. I LOVE MY JOB! There's something wonderful going on in the universe when you get to work at what you got a degree in decades ago.

The other day while spending time on WasteBook--I mean, Facebook, I realized all I was doing was scrolling mindlessly, looking at beautiful photos and wishing I could see something like that, and watching videos that were tidbits of nothing (unless they were of family). And I had to ask myself: Where would you like to live? In the virtual world* or in the real one? If you lived in the real one, what kind of real fun could you have? What kind of real people could you meet or help or enjoy? What real dawns and sunsets would you see vs. other people’s pictures? If you take yourself out of the virtual world, what could you really accomplish?** *Virtual world by definition would be UNREAL. That would not be a good place to live.**I love books and I don't find that reading them is a waste of time but time well-spent, even though the books may be fiction.

This is a photo taken by me, of my baby, while we were at the beach. Yay! Reality!

I'm not a teen but I read a lot of teen books. Why am I confessing this? Because I've heard too many people say something to the effect "It's good that teens are reading and then they can move to better books" or worse is "those books are just eye candy." (Gadzooks! Are you kidding me?! Books that are just eye candy are being read! It means kids and teens are reading! It means they're getting something into their brains, such as vocabulary, spelling, grammar, punctuation, characterization, plot, and meaning to think about, not to mention a love for reading! And what do you define as eye candy anyway?! Non-fiction?! Anything that doesn't teach something deeply important?! Or any book that isn't considered a "classic"? Or maybe the truth is, any book or genre that YOU don't care for! Forgive my rant. I'm touchy about this subject because someone called Fablehaven by Brandon Mull--a book I liked--eye candy...it was a wonderful & thick YA fantasy; I do not define that kind of book as eye candy. And others are welcome to think otherwise; I'm still going to enjoy the book. Let's carry on, shall we?) Generally, I think when they say "better books," they mean adult books and classics.

I tend to read YA (Young Adults) or MG (Middle Grade) because those books are shorter which fit into my busy life. Although I've read the romantic teen books, I'm not into those; I'm often skimming the "Oo, I'm in love with him" parts so I can get back to the story. I believe the first book in the Harry Potter trilogy was considered MG. I just listened to the audiobook Thirteenth Child by Patricia Wrede which would be considered a YA. But in the third book of the series, the main character is now 20. There's a new book category called "New Adult" and perhaps that's where this third book fits in.

Like adult books, teen books can be deep or shallow, well-written or not, come in a variety of genres--fantasy, sci-fi, contemporary fantasy, contemporary, romance, mystery, etc. There are many teen books which address some hefty issues. Then there is the fluff. Then there are the teen books which are humorous and deep or humorous and fluff. Teen books aren't just for teens and they're not just a stage to get through. Many times, teen books are better written than adult books because authors have to instantly grab the attention of those in that age-group--not an easy task. On top of that, the books have to KEEP their attention. I find books written for adults tend to ramble on and on. I notice that in both non-fiction and fiction. I often wonder if adult books tend to be longer because authors and readers feel they aren't getting their money's worth if they aren't reading a tome. I enjoy good books, no matter who they're "geared" for. (I suppose if I like a book then it's geared for me...?)

"But you don't have to take my word for it." (Name that show about books from long ago. And can you name the actor who said it?) Try a YA novel. If you're unsure what to pick, ask your librarian. Or ask me! Tell me the genre you tend to read and I'll recommend a YA in that genre.

I blogged about when not to use cell phones (gasp! Horrors! Not use cell phones! As if!) here. But I was reminded yesterday of another place in which one should not answer a cell phones:THE LIBRARY. Yeah, don't answer it there. Please remember that it's okay to call someone back later and not be interrupted by every "ding" that goes off.And don't answer it in a FUNERAL HOME either, unless it's a family member or special friend who's on their way.

Speaking of the interminable *ding* of cell phones, it reminds me of the little bells that the masters would ring for their servants, and the servants would have to DROP EVERYTHING, including emotions, just to respond to the *ding*. I suppose the bell sound could have been *ringalingaling*. Midnight and the Lord and Lady of the manor just returned home? *Ding* Come get the horses, stable boy. *Ringalingaling* Bring me a petit-four, cook. *Ding* You may take my jacket, shoes, socks, hat and tie, valet.*ding. Ding. DING. Ringalingaling! dingdingdingdingding!*Or perhaps it works as a better example this way (I know my kid can relate to this):MOM/ME: Have you taken care of the dogs?MOM: Have you finished your school work?MOM: Unload the dishwasher.MOM: Load the dishwasherMOM: Set the table. Do your laundry. Make your bed. Get a job. Finish your classwork. Pick up your shoes. Did you return the library book? Have you called the manager back? What are you doing?

Marian, that's me!

I love stories! I love to read fairy tales, fables, stories from around the world. I especially love scifi and fantasy. And I like to write. And watch movies. And play board games. And do theatre things.